Merkel leads Steinbruck before vote

BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party appears poised to win Sunday’s elections in Germany, which will put her in place to become one of postwar Germany’s longest-serving leaders.

If polls prove accurate, Merkel will win another four-year mandate. Her top challenger, center-left candidate Peer Steinbruck, spent his final days on the road trying to convince voters that Merkel has failed to exert real leadership in Germany since she was first elected in 2005.

The campaign has been marked by controversy over U.S. spying on European soil and dust-ups over whether German society is becoming less fair to its most vulnerable groups. It remains unclear who might emerge as Merkel’s coalition partner.